C’est la fin!

I at long last completed construction of a lovely chicken coop for my 4 chickens. I started it last year at Easter time, and worked on it each school holiday after. It was a real education to build, and a test of my skills.

I used mostly materials that I scrounged, except for the chicken wire, the corrugated zinc, and the nails and screws. I’m really proud and take pleasure in the fact that I didn’t buy all the wood; as you can see above, the timber—mainly the reused fence palings—has such character, and is pretty sturdy, and didn’t cost me a cent.

The Rewards

We get a few eggs a day from our 4 girls, and they are lovely to eat, and share among the family. Part of the reward is financial, with the eggs saving us a bit of money here and there. It’s nothing that will pay off the home loan in 10 years, but it all helps. It is also rewarding being a little more self-sufficient, and relying less on the shopping markets. With our vegie garden, we can nearly eat whole meals where everything has been produced at home.

Our lovely girls. L–R: Milly, Ethel, Black Betty, and Bethel

Meet the Ladies

We have four hens, two are about 3 or 4 months older than the other two, and we’ve had two die—one just dropped dead mysteriously after a week, and one died after an injury to its leg. We first got Ethel and Bethel at 16 or 17 weeks old. Then we had three 7-week-old chicks given to us by a friend. They all turned out to be roosters. We couldn’t believe it and were a little traumatised when we gave them away. We then got three new pullets from the hatchery nearby and now we have the four. Ethel is a Leghorn crossed with an Australorp and is a bully, Bethel is a lovely and gentle Australorp cross Rhode Island Red. Milly is a pure Rhode Island Red, and Black Betty is a pure Australorp.

If you’ve never had chickens before and are thinking about it, jump in because they are great fun, and you get more than you put in.